June 2018

TV: Tennis, NBC

Novak Djokovic and Marco Cecchinato meet in the quarterfinals of the 2018 tennis French Open.

Novak Djokovic is coming off a straight sets win over Fernando Verdasco that took 27 games to decide. In the victory, Djokovic won 63 percent of his first serve points and 69 percent of his second serve points. Djokovic won 65 percent of his total service points and produced five breaks in his fourth round victory. Djokovic continues to show signs of returning to elite form and has now won 20 of his last 24 sets played. Djokovic can still clean up the unforced errors here and there, but he’s by far playing his best tennis since the injuries. Djokovic has split his last eight quarterfinal matches overall. Djokovic is in his ninth straight French Open quarterfinal. Djokovic looks to make his first grand slam semifinal since the 2016 US Open. Djokovic has won nine of his last 11 matches on clay court.

Marco Cecchinato is coming off a four sets win over David Goffin that took 37 games to decide. In the victory, Cecchinato won 73 percent of his first serve points and 58 percent of his second serve points. Cecchinato managed to win 68 percent of his total service points while giving himself 18 break chances. Cecchinato has been the cinderella of this tournament, as the 25-year-old came into this tournament with almost zero success on the main tour. It’s going to be interesting to see how Cecchinato handles things moving forward, as the emotions can get the best of players at this stage. The nerves will be a true test for the Italian. Cecchinato has won each of his last six quarterfinal matches, most of which came in challenger play. Cecchinato has a chance to reach his first ever grand slam semifinal. Cecchinato has won five of his last seven matches on clay court.

There’s no previous matches between these two players.

Give credit to Cecchinato, as this is his breakthrough moment and certainly will make his pockets much fatter than they previously were. However, the end is here in the quarters. Djokovic is starting to find his groove again and is once again playing with swagger. Experience also matters once you get into grand slam quarterfinals, and it’s no contest between these two guys. Djokovic is one of the best to ever do it and it’s another day at the office for him. Cecchinato has little experience on the ATP main tour overall and was overcome with emotion after beating Goffin. He’s in over his head here.

Novak Djokovic

Comments (1)

Randy, youre full of it. Djokovic wins, now Thiem wins without any real analysis other than they are superior and the opportunity for them to reach the semis or final means they will win. Give me a break, you're just choosing the safe option. Cechinato is playing like a top 3 player in the world right now and there's absoloutely no reason why that wont continue against Theim. Djokovic was in a zone and playing a high level of tennis and still got spanked. Goffin was lucky to grab that 2nd set and got spanked as well. How many players would spank Pablo Careno Busta like Cechanato did, this guy's been destroying everyone the past few months.

If Cechinato makes the final, he will give Nadal the toughest match at RG since Djokovic and Soderling. Mark my words.

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